Evanescent
by Angel's Sins
Summary: Sawada Tsunayoshi, Mist Guardian to the Vongola Decimo, is sent to the Dimension of Sky to help Dame-Tsuna become Decimo in order to restore the balance of the seven dimensions. One man against the world. He takes one step and falls...[Cover is not mine.]
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Hello?" a voice called out.

The speaker grinned as his voice echoed in the empty, dark warehouse. His boots created hard thuds in the cold air and he ran a hand through his wet brown hair. Thunder rumbled in the distance; the ground slightly shook from the sudden tremor.

The young man bent over and ruffled his hair. Drops of water flicked onto the dirty ground. "You know, I come in peace and all." He looked up, suddenly pensive. "Well, maybe, sort of. Not exactly. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm just another damaged individual passing by."

He faked a sniffle. "I'm lonely, pal. Hey, come on out and I'll probably give you something good. Do you like magic tricks?"

The brunet took out a box of cards from his pocket and opened it. He started to shuffle the deck swiftly. The swish of the cards rebounded in the building. "I'm pretty good. Come on. I won't charge you."

He saw a flicker to his right but continued to shuffle his cards. "Pick a card. Any card."

Silence.

The sound of the rain was faded in the background, but the brunet could easily perceive the sounds all around him. His lips twitched upward into a faint smile. His brother taught him well.

"Do you know what the different cards are?" he said loudly, leaning on his right leg. "Hearts, spades, that sort of stuff?"

He suddenly stopped and clasped his hands together in a prayer-like manner, the cards sandwiched between his palms. He created an illusion of wind picking up around him for effect and sent the strong currents throughout the building. Doors slammed open, waving back and forth at the hinges, and windows shattered; the rain was louder, emphasized by the raging wind. A scream came from his left and he sprinted.

Morphing his hand into a sharp spear-like blade, Tsuna grinned almost maniacally when he found his victim who cowered in the corner, surrounded by glass.

"No, please!" his victim cried, scrambling away. "S – "

He let out a bloodcurdling shriek as the brunet pierced his weapon through the man's small body. Blood splattered the walls and streamed down the brunet's arm. The man hung limply from his hand and he tossed him away.

The brunet watched indifferently as the man's corpse sprawled on the ground. He slashed his weapon in the air and blood stained the ground. His weapon morphed back into a hand as he walked over to the man's body.

There was a bit of static coming from the man's jacket and the brunet dug within the bloody fabric. He found a walkie-talkie and smiled, amused.

"Oi, Tachibana," a voice said from the other line. "Oi! What the hell happened?"

"Sorry," Tsuna said, disguising his voice with an illusion. "Your partner doesn't seem well. I think he's, I don't know, dead."

He laughed and smashed the device with his foot. He searched the dead man's body again and found his cell phone. After shifting through it, the brunet crushed it with his hand and left, never coming back again.

The next morning, the brunet watched another brunet from afar, a smaller, more fragile boy than he. The smaller boy held his book bag against his chest and kept his eyes to the ground. It was the first time they ever met eyes, but it was certainly not the last.

The smaller boy – well, technically he was the older man in a way – widened his eyes in shock and blinked, as if he thought that he was dreaming.

The older brunet grinned and gave a mock salute before he vanished.

"Oi, Dame-Tsuna, move!" a boy said, shoving the still brunet to the ground.

Suddenly, Tsuna, instead of landing on the ground, was still standing. In fact, his bully was the one who was on the floor, sputtering in shock. He shook his head as if in a daze and his friends helped him up. They walked away, ignoring him, as if Tsuna didn't exist.

No matter how much he thought about it, his relief was overpowered by a sense of dread and hopelessness. He looked around to see that none of the students bothered to look at him, as if he really didn't exist. It bother relieved and frightened him.

Suddenly, a hand was placed on his tense shoulder and he flinched.

Someone leaned down to his ear and whispered, "I'm here."

And for the first time, Tsuna smiled.

* * *

**A/N Oh, god… I'm sorry for creating so many stories! I should really get back to the others. This one is for my friend who pestered me all day to make this one (I still love you!).**

**Yeah… This one will be a bit different from the other stories. Much more different. To avoid confusion, yes, the older brunet is Tsuna from another dimension and the younger one is the present/canon Tsuna who will be slightly tweaked to fit the tone of the story, haha, as always. Though from now, the older Tsuna will be referred to as Tsunayoshi and the present one will be referred to as Tsuna.**

**Pairings are still undecided but I might just make it none, as I want to focus more on the family and friendship aspect.**

**"****The Shadow's Weeping" is a bit on hold for now since my beta is currently in a family emergency and I want to give you guys the best quality I can produce. ^^**

**Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you can.**

**See you in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 1

"_I must govern the clock, not be governed by it."_

- Golda Meir

* * *

**Chapter 1**

A series of thumping echoed in a fluctuating and faint manner throughout the small apartment. Doors closed and opened at a rapid pace. The sink turned on and off and a small squeak came from the bathroom before a young girl stumbled out with a clumsy gait. She stumbled in the hallway and dashed inside the living room.

"Tsu – Eek!" She covered her nose with her extremely long sleeves and reeled back in disgust. Tsuna! Tsuna drank _again_?"

Indeed, the man had. He was sprawled across the worn couch and looked as if he was dead to the world. Several beer bottles were spread across the messy table; books and papers were stacked messily on top of one another. Cute pens and pencils, a stark contrast from the dull and dinghy living room, lied along the table and papers. The living room just felt terribly depressing.

The young girl waved a sleeve comically in the air and the bottles vanished, the putrid smell replaced with a fresh, flowery scent. She ran towards the brunet and shook him hard. "Tsuna! Tsuna! Why didn't Tsuna wake Aiko up? Aiko is late! Does Tsuna know what – Tsuna, Aiko said no more drinking!"

Tsunayoshi groaned and turned over on the coach. He mumbled an incoherent string of words before his croaked voice alleviated into silence. The young girl huffed and flicked her long braid behind her shoulder.

"Tsuna," she said warningly, though it didn't sound threatening due to the playful nature of her voice, "wake up. Wake up!"

Tsunayoshi attempted to smack her way but it was futile. "Aiko…more…sleep…tired…"

The girl, Aiko, took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest. "Tsu-chan is waiting for Aiko and Aiko is late. _Late_."

Her vivid violet eyes flashed and suddenly a tall, blond man appeared beside her. He rolled his eyes and lightly kicked the couch. "Oi, Tsuna. Drinkin' again? Get up. Get _up_!"

The brunet instantly sprang up at the shout and looked around with bleary but wide eyes. "Satoshi, I'm up, I'm up." He rubbed his eyes wearily before looking up to see his brother gone. "God damn it, Aiko, you need to stop doing that. Shit."

Aiko sniffed. "Tsuna didn't wake Aiko up as promised. Now Tsu-chan will be worried."

Tsunayoshi attempted to stand but fell back on the couch and placed his hands on his face. His head pounded heavily and his mind was ridiculously hazy. Maybe he shouldn't have drank so much last night. Alcohol was never the solution, but it worked – sometimes…if he had a partner.

Aiko was his partner, don't get him wrong, but she was highly anti-alcohol and anti-cigarettes. Despite her childish and sprightly personality – in her current form anyway – she was quite the advocate.

"Yeah, uh, how's the little guy?" Tsunayoshi said as he shifted in a comfortable position.

"Tsu-chan is fine!" Aiko said with a bright smile, her angry faze suddenly gone. "He's getting better at math, too!"

Tsunayoshi smiled with a small scoff. "Huh. Well, better than nothing. What time is it?"

"It's nine – Ah, Aiko has to go to Tsu-chan!" Aiko smacked Tsunayoshi on the chest with a scowl. "Tsuna was supposed to wake Aiko up! Now Tsu-chan will get sad and Aiko will get killed by Bird-chan!"

Tsunayoshi choked on his spit before he laughed. "You call that little bastard _Bird-chan_? Aiko, you're good to go. You can take him out anytime in your other forms."

Aiko scowled but it looked more like a pout. "Tsuna, don't call Aiko weak!"

"You're going to be late," Tsunayoshi pointed out quickly.

The blonde gasped and ran towards the door. "Aiko will be back soon! Ah, Tsu-chan will get mad, mad, mad!"

When she was finally gone, Tsunayoshi groaned as his head pulsed painfully. God, he shouldn't have drunk so much. How the hell was he supposed to do his job today? Wait…does he have a job today?

"I don't know anymore!" he cried out dramatically, flailing his arms in the air.

Ever since he came into this realm, things were just so…normal. Compared to the other realms – the Realm of Cloud and the Realm of Rain came into mind instantly – this realm was much more tamed and just…

"There's nothing to do!"

Call him a psychopath or a sociopath or whatever you'd like, Tsunayoshi was bored. He felt a bit guilty for feeling this way to be quite frank' actually, he loathed himself for that. All he had ever known was the thrill, the adrenaline, and the rush. To be suddenly placed in a world with such _mundane_-ish qualities was a very strange change. He should be happy to be able to relax. He should be happy that everything was all rainbows and ponies. He should be happy that no death had occurred yet – well, of course there were people dying out there in the world. And he couldn't forget the fact that it took him nearly a year to placate the mafia family of the man he had killed a year ago.

"And all for the little guy," he said with a deep exhale.

Wiping out the family wasn't difficult. They were a bunch of stubborn asses, arrogant, and not much of a hassle; however, keeping the rest of the mafia calmed down was a bit of a...well, it was like solving a Rubik's cube. Damn, he hated that thing. How Satoshi solved it, he didn't know.

A smile quirked on his chapped lips, his eyes becoming distant and his mind becoming contorted with a memory.

He used to take his brother's Rubik's cube during a meeting – most specifically during any meeting with the Gesso Famiglia – and simply peeled off the stickers of the Rubik's cube and matched them up on one side while placing his feet on the table. He would sometimes stick them on the table just to annoy the hell out of Byakuran and Satoshi.

Those meetings were boring anyway.

Tsunayoshi hummed in thought. Since this was the Realm of Sky, the Tsuna here would become Vongola Decimo – if the kid survives the process.

"That's why I'm here," he said to no one in particular, taking out his trusty deck of cards. "But I'm not gonna help with the paperwork."

With that, he laughed. And it kind of hurt that no one was here.

"_Hey, kiddo. You ain't gonna go far by yourself."_

"_I'm not a kid, Satoshi!"_

"_You are to me. Come here!"_

Tsunayoshi smiled with a twinge of sadness. _Satoshi, you were always there, huh? Might as well be there for the kid, too._

* * *

A mantra seemed to flow within the scrawny brunet's head. _Aiko, where are you? Aiko, where are you?_

He tapped his hand against his thigh despite what Aunt Narumi always told him. Her disapproving face flashed in his mind, but he couldn't stop.

Always, Tsuna would always wait for Aiko no matter what, even if she were extremely late or not (even though this was the first time she was late). Classes had already started an hour ago and the thought of Hibari just waiting for prey to come into his demonic clutches was just terrifying. Actually, the prefect was basically the epitome of terror.

He shook his head and clutched his hands tighter around his bag.

"_Never do that again, Tsunayoshi,"_ Aunt Narumi's voice echoed in his head.

"_Keep your back straight."_

"_Stop moving your hand like that. You're not autistic, are you?"_

"_Another forty?"_

The sense of dread just got heavier and heavier and he could feel sweat seeping onto his skin. He licked his lips, which he found dry, and shuffled on his feet. Maybe Aiko went ahead by accident. No, he shook his head. She would absolutely never go ahead. In the year that they've known each other, Tsuna knew that she would never leave him behind.

Actually, what if she did? Oh, God, what if she did?

"Tsu-chan!"

Tsuna instantly snapped out of his panicked state and felt a crushing wave of relief wash over his frail body. "Aiko." He managed a weak smile as the girl slowed down her run.

He noticed that instead of the standard Namimori Middle book bag, she had a purple teddy bear shaped bag slung over her should. Tsuna paled as the school dress code instantly blared in his frenzied mind.

_Students must wear appropriate school clothing appointed by the Discipline Committee. Boys must wear black slacks, a white button-up shirt, the Namimori jacket, and black dress shoes. Girls must wear a skirt that reaches the mid-thigh or longer - no shorter than that - a white blouse, an orange vest, and black dress shoes. Bags and other basic necessities will be distributed by the school store. Students not abiding with these rules will be penalized._

"Um, Aiko," Tsuna said cautiously, "I don't think you can bring that to school. It's – It's against the rules."

"Eh?" Aiko said, showing off her bag. "But it's so cute! Why would Bird-chan not like it?"

Tsuna nearly choked. "B – Bird-chan? Aiko, you're going to get yourself killed sooner or later."

Aiko huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Aiko can do whatever she wants. Bird-chan is nothing to Aiko." She looked at the clock inside the café Tsuna was waiting next to and nearly screeched. "Ah, we're late! Tsu-chan, let's go!"

Tsuna had never ran that fast in his life.

* * *

Classes were the same. Nothing really changed aside from the topic. Though Tsuna wasn't preoccupied with that. He was more on edge on what happened earlier.

Hibari was at the gates – Tsuna saw him quite clearly – and he didn't stop them as he and Aiko passed by. Not even a blink. The prefect just continued to stand there as if nothing was occurring before he went off to handle some ruckus on the school field. He didn't even notice Aiko's ridiculously noticeable bag.

He peered over his shoulder to see Aiko copying down the teacher's notes in her purple notebook. Their eyes met and she smiled brightly with a wave.

"Sawada-san," a voice called out, "will you please give us the answer to this question?"

Tsuna widened his eyes as he looked at the question on the board. He recognized the word problem. Aiko helped him with these at his house.

"The questions are quite simple," Mizuki-sensei said. "Even someone like you can solve this."

Snickers erupted from Tsuna's classmates and rather than putting him down, it just made him even more determined. He kept his eyes as steady as he could on the board:

_18 more than the product of 7 and a number is 123. Find the number n._

The equation formed in his head quite slowly but he managed to get the answer – all without a character, he proudly noted.

"The answer is fifteen, sensei," Tsuna said.

Mizuki-sensei raised a brow but didn't say anything as she wrote the answer on the board. "Good work, Sawada-san. You may take your seat."

Tsuna sat down quietly and ignored his classmates' whispers and stares with a bit of satisfaction. He turned to see Aiko clap happily for him, but his moment of glory was short-lived.

When the bell rang to signal the end of school, he was suddenly shoved out of his seat and his head slammed against a chair. A wave of dizziness came over him as he tried to get his bearings before a foot was placed roughly on his heaving chest. Tsuna gave out a sputtering gasp when his attacker applied more pressure.

"You think you're smart, huh?" Kata said with a smirk. "Well, _Dame-_Tsuna, you showed us what you could do today, but – " He threw something at the struggling brunet's face. " – you can't count for shit. I asked for – "

He was suddenly thrown to the ground and his friends who pinned down Tsuna's arms went flying as well. Tsuna inhaled sharply as he struggled to get up. Aiko grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door. "Let's go, Tsu-chan! They'll wake up soon."

They both ran down the hallways and all Tsuna could see was a purple blob in his blurry vision.

Soon, fresh air whipped against his skin and sunlight blared in his vision. Tsuna blinked a couple of times before his eyesight cleared a bit.

"Aiko, we can slow down," he said weakly. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Eh? Ah, okay, Tsu-chan. I'm sorry." Aiko slowed down considerably and helped Tsuna to sit down on an open table. She patted his back. "Don't worry, Tsu-chan. Aiko will make you get better. Aiko used to help her friend when he's sick. Are you hurt anywhere?"

Tsuna started to take in deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down. Aiko's hand was almost comforting as the dizziness gradually faded away. His hold loosened on his bag as he slowly leaned back against his chair. The fresh air was soothing and the adrenaline in his veins eventually faded.

"I – I'm fine now, Aiko," Tsuna said, waving her off. "Let's go to my house."

"Okay, Tsu-chan," Aiko said, helping him up. "Does Tsu-chan want a drink? Aiko can buy Tsu-chan something."

"I'm fine, Aiko. I'll get something to drink at home."

Aiko looked at him worriedly. "Tsu-chan, you're bleeding."

"Eh?" Tsuna reached up to his forehead and felt something hot against his hand. When he looked down, he saw red.

"Mama will help," Aiko said, tugging his hand. "Let's go, Tsu-chan."

* * *

"Okaa-san, I'm home," Tsuna said, slipping his shoes off at the door.

"Oh, Tsu-kun, welcome h – Tsu-kun, what happened to you?" Nana nearly screamed as she rushed towards her son.

Aiko helped bring him to the couch, which kind of embarrassed Tsuna. "I can walk fine, you know."

"Who did this to you?" Nana asked, running inside the kitchen to get the first-aid kit. "Tell me, Tsuna."

The brunet winced as his mother wiped his wound with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball. "Okaa-san, I'm fine. It's nothing small."

"Tell me who did this to you," Nana said firmly as she placed a band-aid on his head. "I'll have to call the school for this."

"Aiko helped Tsu-chan," Aiko said. "Sugita Kata, Takaoka Yosuke, and Izawa Kakuzo."

Tsuna gave her a pointed look but she ignored him. Nana nodded in gratitude. "Thank you, Aiko-chan. I'll call the principal as soon as I finish."

"Nana!" a voice called from upstairs. "What happened with the shower? The water is cold!"

"Oh, um, the plumber will be coming today!" Nana answered. "I believe he's on his way soon. Just wait a little bit more, Onee-san." She looked back at Tsuna with a serious gaze. "I'm going to call – "

The doorbell rang. Aiko looked curiously at the door while a small flash of irritation crossed through Nana's eyes. She stood up and walked over to the door. "It must be the plumber. Onee-san, the plumber is here!"

Tsuna never forgot the expression that came across Aiko's face. It was an expression of indifference, almost chilling, and it frightened him. "Aiko, are you okay?"

"Hello, please come…in?" Nana looked confused when she saw no one in front of her. She looked around to search for any signs of the plumber. "Um, hello?"

"Ciaoussu," a small, baby-like voice said.

Nana jumped in surprise as she looked down to see a strange-looking baby. "Oh, um, hello. Are you lost?"

"My name is Reborn and I'm here to tutor Sawada Tsunayoshi. Can you please bring me to him?"

* * *

**A/N Thank you for the reviews and favorites! Much appreciated! ^^**

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please leave a review if you can.**

**Thank you for reading!**

**See you in the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 2

"_You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."_

- Abraham Lincoln

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The wind whistled in the air and bright, colorful leaves followed its trail. The air was a bit cool as people rubbed their bare arms for warmth; a lot of clothing stores displayed winter clothes and all of the ice cream stands were closing. Winter was coming soon and it somewhat pleased Tsunayoshi. The cold strangely made him more alert while heat just slowed him down. Thus, fall and winter were his favorite while spring and summer could go both die in a hole together in peace.

He grinned and chuckled at the unexpected metaphor. Ah, Satoshi would be so –

"_Ciaoussu. My name is Reborn and I'm here to tutor Sawada Tsunayoshi. Can you please bring me to him?"_

Tsunayoshi instantly entered Aiko's mind and perceived Tsuna's house through her eyes. He saw Nana by the door with a familiar small baby on the doorsteps and sipped his cup of coffee. The liquid was hot on his tongue and he winced.

"Hot, hot, hot!" he said, wiping his mouth after he spat out the liquid.

"_Tsuna, don't do that!"_ Aiko's voice echoed in her mindscape.

Tsunayoshi paid her no mind as he blew his cup. "So, the baby's here?" He watched as Reborn simply invited himself in the household. "Bastard's still the same. I'll see you later."

"_What should Aiko do?"_

Tsunayoshi cautiously sipped his cup and clicked his tongue. "Play his game." With that, he vanished and returned to reality.

He glanced at the setting sun and scratched the back of his head as he continued to walk leisurely through the park. _It's time for a reunion, little guy._

Tsunayoshi dumped his coffee in the trash bin and whipped out a pack of cigarettes from his black army jacket. It was comforting as he blew a whiff of smoke in the air and watched it vanish, vaguely wondering again where it went.

* * *

Aiko blinked as she regained her bearings and smiled cheerfully. She skipped over to Reborn and waved. "Reborn-chan is so cute!"

"Um, Reborn-kun, right?" Nana said, crouching down to the baby's height. "Where is your mother?"

Reborn's large black eyes were piercing and sharper than any other babies his age – Nana wondered briefly if he even _was_ a baby - and she shivered; it felt as if he could see right into her soul.

"I need to see Sawada Tsunayoshi," he repeated.

Nana looked back at Tsuna who stood behind her with an uneasy gaze. "Tsu-kun, do you know him?"

Aiko watched as Reborn simply walked right in the house without any consent. She kept on smiling nonetheless and followed him curiously as he looked up at Tsuna's stunned face.

"Um, no," Tsuna said slowly. "I never saw him before."

"Nana, the water is still cold!" Narumi called.

"It's not the plumber, Onee-san!" Nana said, slipping on her shoes. "Reborn-kun, I'll go with you to find your – "

"Iemitsu never said you suffered from anxiety disorder," Reborn said, cutting her off. He scrutinized Tsuna with a blank yet calculating gaze. "Your file is barely complete."

Nana froze. "I – Iemitsu?"

Tsuna continued to gape at the baby. "W – Who are you?"

"My name is Reborn," the baby repeated. "I am the greatest hit man in the world. You will be under my tutelage from now on, Sawada Tsunayoshi. You will become fit for the title of Vongola Decimo after my training."

Aiko looked at him curiously. "Vongola? Reborn-chan, is that a game?" She grinned. "Aiko wants to play, too!"

"No!"

Everyone averted their gaze to Nana, who looked terrified beyond belief. She shook her head frantically. "No, never. Tsu-kun will never join that – that terrible group. Reborn-kun, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Aiko smiled, pleased to see that Mama wasn't entirely stupid in this world, but her mood soon dampened when Reborn's chameleon Leon morphed into a familiar green gun. She didn't want to say it, but Reborn _was_ the same bastard like he was in the other realms. Though there was one realm where he was a drug addict and another where he was a heavy alcoholic. However, he was still the same; just the bitterness varied with each Reborn.

The said baby held the gun in his hand as if it was second skin and tipped his fedora. "Nana, the rules are as stated and Nono has officially reached his decision. Ts – "

"Every time, _every time_, Nana, the water gets cold and - " A skinny woman with partially wet hair stood at the foot of the stairwell with a slightly stunned expression on her face. "Nana, who is this?"

Aiko didn't like Narumi. No, no, she never did. With her uptight personality and ridiculously high expectations, Narumi was the one who made Tsuna get a bit of an anxiety disorder in the first place. Aiko always wondered if it was right for someone like her try to take control of her own sister's child. Narumi was never present in any other realm. Just here. And thus, Aiko came up with a conclusion: this realm will probably be the hardest out of the other ones.

Before Nana could say anything, Reborn piped up, "My name is Reborn and I was assigned as Sawada Tsunayoshi's tutor."

Aiko's mood sank even further when a spark of interest and curiosity gleamed in Narumi's eyes.

"Oh?" Narumi looked at Nana who still looked petrified. "You never mentioned a tutoring service, Nana. And by someone so…young."

"It's just a big misunderstanding," Nana said quickly. "He's just a lost baby and I was planning to bring him to his mother. Come, Reborn-kun, let's g – "

"No, no, no," Narumi said. "Let him stay a while. Reborn, was it?"

"Yes," the baby said blankly.

"You should stay for a little bit. Would you like something to drink?"

"Expresso would be nice. Thank you for your hospitality. Come, Dame-Tsuna."

"You can't tell me what to d – " The brunet was silenced when Reborn pointed his gun at him.

"I can assure you that this is a real gun," Reborn said.

Aiko followed as well, but stuck closely by Tsuna's side. The brunet gave her a grateful look and she only smiled.

_Tsuna, where are you? _she thought.

* * *

"How old are you, Reborn?" Narumi asked the baby.

"Three years old," Reborn said blankly.

"Only three? My, your parents would be very proud."

"They are."

Tsuna watched helplessly as his aunt and the weird baby continued conversing casually with one another. He vaguely wondered if his aunt was stupid enough to fall for the baby's tricks – were they tricks? – or if the baby was just a really good liar. He couldn't possibly have a Master's degree in math no matter how smart he sounded. Actually, the baby was more intimidating and Tsuna couldn't –

"Tsunayoshi, straighten your back." Aunt Narumi's laconic voice snapped the brunet out of his thoughts and he instantly did as she ordered. "Your posture is still lacking and slouching won't make it any better. Chin up as well. Making eye-contact with the speaker will increase your social skills and possibly make that other person see you as a worthy and respected individual."

"Yes, ma'am," Tsuna mumbled, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Chin up."

He forced his head to look up and met with cold, indifferent black eyes. Reborn was just simply unnerving.

"Onee-san," Nana said exasperatedly, "don't – "

"He's your child, Nana," Aunt Narumi said. "And you spoiled him."

"Tsu-kun is not spoiled."

"The first time I came here, he entered a fit instead of politely greeting me at the door."

"He was only a child. He also had nightmares that day so you can't blame him for anything."

Tsuna hated it. He hated how they argued over him as if he wasn't even there. His mind was just screaming at them to be quiet, to just leave him alone. He swallowed a lump in his throat and his body started to shake as Aunt Narumi and his mother's voice grew louder and louder. His ears rang with their voices, not making sense of their words fully.

" – raise him as I want – "

" – terrible parenting skills – "

" – husband never sends support – "

" – excuses, Nana, excuses – "

" – your husband – "

" – my life – "

" – stay out – "

Tsuna was practically shaking in his own sweat as he blinked rapidly to gain his thoughts.

_Shut up! Shut up! _Shut up!

A hand was placed on his clammy one but he could barely feel it. He suddenly felt cold and dizzy. Suddenly, everything stopped as the doorbell rang once and faded in the background.

Tsuna abruptly stood up, his chair scraping against the floor harshly. "I – I'll get it."

Aiko smiled and followed while clapping her hands delightedly. "Aiko's friend is here!"

The brunet stopped, stunned, as he looked at her jubilant face. He ignored the stares from the others in the kitchen, particularly the baby's.

Instantly, he ran towards the door and opened it wide open. A tall, imposing shadow loomed over him and Tsuna's eyes slowly looked up, excited and nervous at the same time.

He gaped at the person, vague familiarity and shock instantly taking a hold of his body. "Impossible… It's…"

The young man drawled a slow, expanding smoke from his lips and tapped his cigarette, the ashes littering Tsuna's doorstep.

Tsuna heard his aunt scream before a loud thump reached his ears.

"Onee-san!" Nana held Narumi in her arms, but her eyes were trained on the new visitor. "What…?"

Reborn was instantly by Tsuna's side. "Who are you?"

Aiko was the only one who acted…normally. She jumped and hugged the stranger around the waist. "Tsuna!"

Tsuna blinked. Tsuna? What the…

"Who are you?" he said.

The stranger grinned with a mischievous gleam in his mismatched eyes – one was brown and the other was an eerie but compelling violet. "I'm your caretaker, remember? Aiko's friend and all that good shit. Name's Sawada Tsunayoshi. But you can call me whatever you want. As long as it's not bitch or whatever. Mind if I come in?"

Tsuna widened his eyes. "Sawada…Tsunayoshi? But I'm…Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Yeah, I know. Me, too. Now are you gonna let me in or not?"

* * *

**A/N Thank you for the reviews and favorites! Much appreciated! ^^**

**Regarding the storyline, it'll have the same ground works as canon but I'll be altering some stuff along the way. Hope you don't mind! **

**This chapter was basically just to kind of set up of what's to come. **

**Thank you for reviewing! Please leave a review if you can.**

**See you in the next chapter.**


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